265: Kirstie McConnell – This is how to build a successful pet photography business

Adelaide Pet photographer, Kirstie McConnell of www.bitsabernard.com.au knows how to run a photography business and she has a lifestyle to prove it! Shooting and working for six months in the business, another six months off and travelling. The only way that's possible is if a business owner has systems in place, a great source of trusting and loyal clients and talent to deliver a great shoot and experience. Not to mention… sales skills.

I met Kirstie while visiting Adelaide earlier this year when I had a chance to catch up with a few other PhotoBizX members at the Atkins Pro Lab. Those few hours were enough for me to clearly see… here's a photography business owner who knows her stuff.

Kirstie's site is ranking on the first page of Google for the major keyword phrase anyone would be using to find a pet photographer in Adelaide. She's making consistently great sales, has a constant stream of beautiful clients obtained through a variety of marketing strategies and she has a life outside of photography.

During that Adelaide catch up, I also witnessed Kirstie's strong opinions on photography and business which should make this a fun interview. In addition to all this business stuff, she's a terrific photographer and from what I hear, delivers outstanding customer service.

Here’s some more of what we cover in the interview:

From weddings and portraits to pet photography

Why pet photography is a great business niche

Kirstie's number of shoots per year and average sales per shoot

How to attract photography clients when moving to a new location

The struggle to establishing your name in a new market and starting out

Kirstie's marketing strategies and what's working best

What is a holding fee and how it can massively help your business

Dog of the year competition and how it works

Why Kirstie's voucher and free shoot promotion is so effective

How Kirstie's email automation works

Website banners and do they work?

Reasons why people are not booking you

The correct sequence to successfully schedule a free shoot that leads to sales

How Kirstie's sales sessions play out

Integrapay and Kirstie's client payment plans

Kirstie's Facebook group – who and what purpose does it serve

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re a premium member, you should have received an email with links to your version of this interview – the full length and more revealing version where you hear the absolute best tips and advice from every guest.

All you're trying to do is have people that already trust you to get their friends to trust you. – Kirstie McConnell

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, get access to an amazing back catalogue of interviews and ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus special member-only interviews.

You'll also receive access to the members only Secret Facebook Group where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. There are also FB live video tutorials, role play interviews and special live interviews happening in the group.

You will not find more friendly, more motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Joining a Mastermind Group (encouraged by Andrew) has been incredibly valuable and fun, I look forward to connecting with my group members every week. Jina Zheng, Premium Member and Melbourne Children photographer.

And that's not all… you get a set of steak knives… I'm kidding!

Seriously though, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access to and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business.

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what Kirstie shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below, let me know what your takeaways were, what you plan to implement in your business as a result of what you heard in todays episode.

If your work is saleable, then sell it. – Kirstie McConnell

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Kirstie or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs

Each week I check for any new iTunes reviews and it's always a buzz to receive these… for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they really are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome!

Secondly, iTunes is the biggest search engine when it comes to podcasts and it's your reviews and ratings that help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners means more interviews and ultimately a better show.

If you have left a review in the past, thank you!

If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name.

Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:

Thank you!

Thanks again for listening and thanks to Kirstie for coming on and sharing so much about her thoughts and ideas on developing a successful photography business based on face to face experiences and a more natural style of marketing… delivering a terrific and personally tailored experience for EVERY client.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions about this episode, please be sure to leave them below in the comment section of this post, and if you liked the episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post!

That’s it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!